soans



Feb. 21, 1956 c. A. SOANS 2,735,740

TOILET PAPER CABINET Filed Dec. l4, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 21, 1956c. A. SOANS 2,735,740

TOILET PAPER CABINET Filed Dec. 14, 1953 l 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 21,1956 c. A. SOANS 2,735,740

TOILET PAPER CABINET Filed Dec. 14. 1953 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 j0zve7z 0@7MZQ. dma

United States Patent The invention relates to. improvementsinreceptacles for containing packages of toilet paper, and particularlywhere the receptacle is placed ina powder room or bathroomfor'temporarily storing a roll of toilet paper which is to be used in anemergency when there is no other: toilet paper in the room.

It is quite commonpractice to place an extra or reserve roll of toiletpaper in a medicinecabinet or other place where the reserve roll isconcealed from normal view. However, after the reserve roll has beeninstalled in the empty roll-holder there remains nothing to advertise;

the fact that the reserve roll. is being used up and. that another rollshould be placed in the medicine cabinet. Consequently, it happensperhaps more frequently than will be suspected, that guestsareinconvenienced and em.- barrassed by finding that the toilet. paper inthe powder room is completely exhausted vor in short supply.

The principal. objects of the invention are to avoid the inconveniencingand embarrassment. abovementioned, to eliminate. the need for providingin the room any other place or container for paper, and incidentally toavoid, the necessity of having any other dispensing holder for thepackage.

I attain these objects by the use of. a receptacle described inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. I is aperspective view of a toilet paper roll storage receptacle combined witha dispensing holder and embodying the principles of my invention,showing the receptacle closed;

Fig. 2 is also a perspective view of the receptacle after it has beenopened;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device in vertical section;

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 3, showing the receptacleclosed;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4, but showing the receptacle unlockedand ready to be opened;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged rear elevation of the lock, or latch;

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of the stationary portion of the emptyreceptacle, taken on the line 77 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 8 and 9 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 but show a simpler formof lock release;

Fig. 10 is a front elevation, in section, of an alternative form ofreceptacle, in which the door is at the bottom; and

Fig. 11 is a plan view 11-11 of Fig. 10.

In the drawings, the numeral 20 represents as a whole a rectangularreceptacle or casing in which, in the Fig. 1 position, a package oftoilet paper in the form of a roll 21 is normally contained and stored.The receptacle 20 may be secured to the wall of the room by screws 22,or other suitable fastening means. The receptacle 20 comprises astationary part and a closure part which, in the case of the receptacledisclosed in Figs. 1 to 9 inclusive, takes the form of a front door 23connected to of a section taken on the line storing a reserve. supply oftoilet.

2,735,740 Patented Feb. 21, 1956 the rectangular stationary portion ofthe cabinet by spring hinges 24 which tend to ceptacle 20.

On the outer face of the front door 23 there is mounted open the front.door of the rea'bracket 25 for detachably supporting a conventional.

spindle 26 by means of which paper from the roll 21 may be dispensed asneeded.

When the receptacle 20 is occupied by the roll 21, the closed by amanually-releasable lock or latch mechanism now to be described. Betweenand supported by the side walls of the receptacle 20 there extends a rod28, see Fig. 7, around which is loosely wound a wire spring 29. One end30 of this spring is in the form of an arm extending downwardly andresting position 32 shown in F1g. 3. The outer or front end of arm 32 isfolded backvupon itself to form a latching abutment 33 which, when thelatch arm 32 is in the full line position, is adapted to engage behindthe flange 34 of a keeper 35 secured to the inside face of the frontwall 23 of the cabinet by screws extending through spaced lugs 36 on thefront edge of keeper 35. See Figs. 4 and 5.

When a roll 21 of toilet paper is pushed into the cabinet, its rear faceengages an arm 37 which is formed as a part of spring 29, see Fig. 7,and rotates it from the dotted line position 37', see Fig. 3, into itsfull linev position. This causes the arm 37 to rotate the coiled spring29 in anti-clockwise direction and thereby causes the latch arm latch.arm 32.

To enable the cabinet to be unlocked and the roll removed, the outer endof a manually-operable plunger 41 is pressed inwardly. .The inner end 42of this plunger engages the lower end 43 of a sheet metal strip bentinto the form of a bell crank positioned between the two lugs 36 of thekeeper 35. The upper arm 44 of the bell crank extends between the upperface of the keeper 35 and the latch 33, so that when the plunger 41 ispushed inwardly the inner end of arm 44 will raise the latch, therebyunlocking the door and enabling the spare roll to be removed. The headof the fixed pin 45 prevents displacement of the bell crank 43-44.

It will be observed that when the spare roll 21 is removed and installedon the holder 25, the door can not be re-latchcd in closed positionuntil another spare roll is placed in the cabinet. Hence, until thecabinet is refilled, the door will hang down and serve as a dangersignal until such time as the cabinet is recharged with another spare.This danger signal may be made more insistent by applying anobjectionable color on the inside of the door, in addition to which theroll being then dispensed will occupy an awkward position for convenientuse, thus emphasizing the need for refilling the cabinet.

In Figs. 8 and 9 there is shown a simpler form of latch release. In thismodified form the outer end of the latch arm 32 is lengthened to form atrigger projection through a small slot 46 in the front wall enablingone to raise the latch arm and disengage the latch from the flat keeper47 secured to the rear face of the door.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown a bottom door modification in which theweight of the roll may be employed instead of a spring, for latching thedoor in closed position. In this gravity arrangement the latch arm 48takes the form of a thin strip of resilient metal depending from andsecured to the top of the rear of the cabinet by an integral lug 49 andscrews 50 threaded into the top wall 51. The inherent elasticity ofspring strip 48 is such as to urge it to the right of Fig. 10, excessivemovement being prevented by a headed pin 52 extending through a smallhole in spring 48. The end of the flat spring 48 is folded to form alatch 53 and is long enough to form a trigger extending through anopening in the bottom wall 54 which, in this case, forms the closurepart or door which can be opened.

The door 54 may be arranged to swing by gravity in an anti-clockwisedirection when it is opened, its righthand edge being equipped withhinges 55 which connect the door to the right-hand side wall 56. On theinside face of the bottom door near the inner rear corner thereof Imount a small bracket 57 secured to the door by screws 58. This brackethas a pair -of spaced upstanding ears 57a which form a support for asmall rod 59 which itself forms a pivot for a movable latch member orkeeper 60. The latching part or keeper 60 is made in the form of a fiatlug which is integral with, and depends from a fiat metal strip 61having a pair of spaced, downwardly-bent ears 62 through which the pivotrod 59 extends. The keeper 60, which swings with the door, is thus alsoenabled to rock on its own horizontal axis.

The fiat body portion of the keeper 61 is extended obliquely to a pointbeyond the center of the cabinet so as to underlie and support the spareroll of toilet paper 63 which is placed in the receptacle with its axisvertical. Excessive downward movement of the keeper 61 is prevented by asupporting ledge 64 secured to the upper face of the door 54.

In order to render the latching mechanism inoperative when the cabinetis empty, a small coil tension spring 65 is connected between theextended lower end of one of the lugs 62 on keeper 61 and a pin 66 onthe inside face of the door. The weight of the spare roll 63 issufiicient to overcome the tension of spring 65 and thus will causespring 65 to assume its operative latching position, as shown in fulllines in Fig. 1, but the spring 65 is strong enough to rock the keeperinto dotted line inoperative position when the roll is absent. In saiddotted line position the arm cannot engage the latch member 53, and soit is impossible to latch up the door in closed position.

Preferably, in this modification shown in Figs. and 11, it is desirableto mount the roll-dispensing support 67 on the bottom face of the door,as shown in Fig. 10. This supplies additional weight for keeping thedoor open when the cabinet is empty, and in that unfilled condition thedispensing of the paper from the roll is inconvenient and directsimmediate attention to the need for refilling the cabinet.

I claim:

1. A normally closed storage container for enclosing a single reservepackage of toilet paper and adapted to be installed in anexposed-to-view location in a toilet room, said container including arelatively stationary part and a relatively movable closure part pivotedto said stationary part and adapted to swing downwardly and away fromthe stationary part to open position, a latch adapted to hold saidcabinet closed only when said package is in the container,manually-controlled means operable at will when the container contains apackage for disengaging said latch whereby said container may be openedand the package removed, and a dispensing support carried on the outsideof said closure part and arranged to hold a similar package inconvenient usable position when the container is closed but in arelatively inconvenient position when the container is open, the weightof said support tending to swing said closure part into open position.

2. A toilet paper package storage container which includes a stationarypart and a closure part manually movable from an open position intoposition to close the container and which is arranged to returnautomatically to its open position when the container is empty so as topermit insertion of a spare package, and a lock at all times manuallyreleasable at will for holding the closure part in closed position,which lock is effective to latch said closure part in closed positionwhen a package is in the container but is ineffective to hold saidclosure part in closed position when the package is not in thecontainer, said lock including a pair of inter-engaging members carriedrespectively by the container parts, one of said members being held ineffective operative engagement with the other member by the sparepackage when said package is in the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS598,053 Lewis Jan. 25, 1898 1,354,500 McNaughton Oct. 5, 1920 1,686,911Fredlund Oct. 9, 1928 2,639,957 Geller May 26, 1953

